indigenous entrepreneurship: how indigenous knowing, being

IndIgenous entrepreneurshIp: how IndIgenous knowIng,

beIng and doIng shapes entrepreneurIal practIce

Jason Paul Mika

learning outcomes At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Understand why Indigenous entrepreneurship is special, unique and different2. Discuss definitions of Indigenous entrepreneurship and formulate a view of your own3. Discuss Indigenous entrepreneurship in pre-contact and post-contact historical periods4. Identify the characteristics of Indigenous peoples, their cultures, languages and contexts5. Discuss several theoretical developments relevant to Indigenous entrepreneurship6. Discuss how Indigenous entrepreneurship differs between countries7. Discuss the role of formal enterprise assistance in Indigenous entrepreneurship

IntroductIonThis chapter introduces the concept and practice of entrepreneurship from an Indigenous per-

spective. The focus is on understanding what Indigenous entrepreneurship is, where it comes

from and how it is understood and practised in different contexts by people of diverse cultures,

languages, histories and circumstances. The goal of the chapter is to help you understand the

uniqueness of Indigenous entrepreneurship, and from this understanding form your own views

on what it is, how it has developed and how it can be achieved and supported in your region. The

chapter argues that Indigenous entrepreneurship is part of a distinctive approach to engaging

in enterprise and economic development that is present in many countries and all continents.

2 EntrEprEnEurship

This approach involves integrating Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews, knowledge and

practice to achieve Indigenous development aspirations. Indigenous entrepreneurship adheres

to the Indigenous view that human beings and the natural environment share a common origin

and are, therefore, interrelated—with one depending on the other for their survival and wellbe-

ing. This view refers to the principle of social and ecological interdependency. This means that,

in order to live well, natural resources must be managed sustainably, taking only what one needs.

An example of this is the replenishing of fish stocks and plant life through cultural practices of

prohibition and regeneration, which are collective responsibilities. This principle has ancient

origins and has helped Indigenous peoples live in harmony with their environments, satisfying

their peoples’ need for food and materials for their livelihoods. This is a traditional view of socio-

ecological balance that has evolved into sustainable development and has subsequently been

given serious consideration internationally among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. It

is relevant to all aspects of our lives, at home, at work, in school, government, industry and

community in order to cope with, and recover from, the effects of widespread pollution, envi-

ronmental degradation and climate change. The chapter introduces and explores Indigenous

entrepreneurship in five sections: (1) Indigenous peoples; (2) Indigenous entrepreneurship the-

ory; (4) Indigenous entrepreneurship practice and (5) enterprise assistance. The chapter includes

five cases of Indigenous entrepreneurship—three Maori entrepreneurs from Aotearoa New Zea-

land and two Native American entrepreneurs from the United States of America.

IndIgenous peoples

Ma te whakatu, ka mohio—through discussion comes understanding

the rights and interests of Indigenous peoplesIndigenous entrepreneurship has increasingly appeared in research, public policy and business

activity as international institutions such as the United Nations (UN) began to recognize the

rights and interests of Indigenous peoples (Verbos et al., 2017). The role of entrepreneurship is

discussed as an interactive feature of self-determined sustainable economic development (Peredo

and Anderson, 2006). Indigenous entrepreneurship is constrained and enabled by the contex-

tual, circumstantial and cultural characteristics of Indigenous peoples. While there is great diver-

sity among Indigenous peoples in terms of their cultures, languages, identities and situations,

there is commonality in their appreciation of the role of entrepreneurship in achieving their

collective aspirations (Dana, 2015).

One of the most important international expressions of commitment to Indigenous peoples is

the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (United Nations, 2008). The

Declaration took over 20 years of determined advocacy by Indigenous peoples before being rati-

fied by most nations in 2007 (Katene and Taonui, 2018). While non-binding (meaning nations

3IndIgenous entrepreneurshIp

are not legally obliged to adhere to it), the Declaration is, nonetheless, an important basis upon

which Indigenous peoples and their national governments can work together on policies and

programmes that support Indigenous-led social and economic development. The history of colo-

nization and conquest of Indigenous lands and peoples by European imperial powers and their

explorers, missionaries and settlers over the last 500 years (and the successor nations in North

and Latin America) has seen the original peoples of North and South America, Asia, Africa and

Europe experience extreme hardship with the loss of land, life, culture, language and traditional

ways of living (Lightfoot, 2016; Smith, 1999). While deeply affected by loss, grief, poverty and

ongoing discrimination within their states, Indigenous peoples are united by their resilience,

determination and diversity to develop as communities in ways that affirm their culture, iden-

tity, traditions, and their roles as guardians of their lands, waters, flora and fauna (Eversole et al.,

2005). The Declaration is essentially about enabling this community development to occur,

where entrepreneurship is viewed as enabling Indigenous peoples to be self-determining, and

having a tangible sense of ownership and control over the course of their lives (Mika, 2018a;

Verbos et al., 2017).

Indigenous knowing, being and doingAn important question that must be addressed is who are Indigenous peoples and what are

their ways of knowing, being and doing? In academic terms, this question can be answered by

defining their ethnicity, which is the specialized task of sociologists and anthropologists (Smith,

1986). The first thing to know is that there is not one Indigenous people, there are many; hence

the very deliberate and hard-won argument for reference to ‘peoples’ in the United Nations

Declaration (Lightfoot, 2016; Charters, 2006). This means, however, that a universal definition

which adequately captures the great diversity of Indigenous peoples is problematic. That said,

Indigenous peoples generally share seven characteristics in common. According to the World

Bank (2010) Indigenous peoples are those who:

1. Self-identify as and are recognized by others as members of their particular group;2. Have an ongoing historical link with societies that predate colonial settlement;3. Have an association with and use of ancestral lands and natural resources;4. Have distinct customary, economic, social and political institutions;5. Have a distinct language and culture;6. Belong to non-dominant societal groups; and7. Resolve to maintain their distinctiveness.

The World Bank (2019) estimates there are around 370 million Indigenous peoples worldwide, in

over 90 countries, making up 5 percent of the world’s population, but they also account for 15

percent of the extremely poor. As global consumption increases, Indigenous rights, as custodians

of over 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity (World Bank, 2019), are under threat by nation

states searching for secure access to natural resources and energy (Berger, 2019). The Interna-

tional Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) (2019) estimates that, of the 4,000 languages

4 EntrEprEnEurship

Indigenous peoples speak, up to 75 percent (3,000) of these languages will disappear by 2100

AD replaced by Mandarin, English or Spanish. When a language disappears, crucial elements of

identity, knowledge and practice are also lost, thus, language revitalization is a major priority for

Indigenous peoples (Gianna, 2019; Higgins et al., 2014).

Indigenous worldviewsAn Indigenous worldview is an important indicator of the reasons why and how Indigenous

peoples engage in entrepreneurial activity. While Indigenous peoples are culturally diverse,

they share common elements in their worldviews. Your worldview shapes what you believe

is possible, real and acceptable, originating from your upbringing and social environment

(Heidegger and Grene, 1976). In this sense, a worldview provides a cultural guide as to who

you are, where you come from and your role in the world (Royal, 2003). While a Western

worldview tends to focus on science-based explanations of the world, compartmentalizing

society and seeing land as available for exploitation, an Indigenous worldview focuses on the

connectedness of people and the environment, viewing land as sacred and wealth as impor-

tant for community wellbeing (Indigenous Corporate Training, 2020). Indigeneity is the term

used to describe an Indigenous worldview, which is dynamic, relational, and originates from

Indigenous knowledge (Harris and Wasilewski, 2004). An important feature of Indigeneity is

kinship, the idea that all things are related, people, planet and the elements, sharing a mutual

responsibility for each other’s wellbeing (Stewart et al., 2017; Knudtson and Suzuki, 1997).

Thus, an important step in understanding Indigenous entrepreneurship is to inquire as to

an Indigenous people’s worldview, starting with their origin stories (Dana, 2015; Gladstone,

2018).

IndIgenous entrepreneurshIp theory

Indigenous entrepreneurship research

Ma te mohio, ka marama—through understanding comes light

Indigenous entrepreneurship is understood and approached differently across the continents

of Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Australasia (Dana and Anderson, 2007). Indigenous entre-

preneurship is a relatively new field of research, where considerable effort is going into theory

development to help explain its characteristics and inform policy and practice. Four main types

of research are contributing to Indigenous entrepreneurship theory and practice:

• First, qualitative, phenomenological and inductive research where the emphasis is on under-standing the existence, nature and character of entrepreneurial activity, expressed in writ-ten and oral language and associated interpretations (Patton, 1990; Bourgeois, 1979; Denzin


and Lincoln, 2005; Groenland and Dana, 2019) including firm-level studies of Indigenous entrepreneurs using interviews, observation and case study research to understand entre-preneurial motivation, characteristics and behaviour are examples of qualitative and induc-tive Indigenous entrepreneurship research (Foley, 2000; Dana and Remes, 2005; Henry and Dana, 2018).

• Second, quantitative, positivist and deductive research where the aim is to understand the rela-tionships between variables of interest in terms of their causes and effects, creating gener-alisable knowledge and insights, expressed in numerical terms (Maxim, 1998; Cavana, 2001; Audretsch et al., 2007). Examples of this kind of research are industry and macro-level studies of the economic contribution of Indigenous entrepreneurship to economies (Nana et al., 2011; Statistics Canada, 2004) and firm-level studies of the determinants of success among Indig-enous entrepreneurs and Indigenous firms across a variety of industries, sectors and situations (Haar and Delaney, 2009; Zapalska et al., 2003; Foley, 2003; Russell-Mundine, 2007; Lituchy et al., 2006).

• Third, mixed methods research, which utilizes the strengths of both qualitative and quantita-tive methods to develop a more complete understanding of phenomena (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2011; Dzisi, 2008). Country-level analysis of Indigenous entrepreneurship using the Global Entrepreneurial Monitor study, which combines interview and survey data and documentary analysis is an example of this method (Reihana et al., 2006; Franklin et al., 2013; Frederick and Henry, 2004; Frederick and Chittock, 2006).

• Fourth, Indigenous methodologies, which consist of various methods—qualitative and quantitative— based on Indigenous knowledge, values and practices that challenge power imbalances and inappropriate assumptions about Indigenous peoples as part of a decolonizing agenda (Smith, 2005; Smith, 1999; Henry and Dana, 2018; Henry and Foley, 2018). Much of the Indigenous entrepreneurship research to date has tended to be phenomenological and inductive because little is known about the subject. However, quantitative methods are increasingly appearing in Indigenous academic research, policy and practice (Wolfgramm et al., 2019; Haar and Delaney, 2009; ANZ, 2015; Houkamau and Sibley, 2019).

In Indigenous entrepreneurship research, theoretical development is evident, some examples

of which are: (i) the use of traditional values to explain nonmarket forms of exchange (e.g.,

the Maori concepts of hau and utu, see for example, Henare, 2018; Peredo & McLean, 2013);

(ii) hybridity to help explain the integration of customary, commercial, state and tribal institu-

tions and their effects on Indigenous entrepreneurship (Altman, 2007; Bunten and Graburn,

2018; Colbourne, 2018; Meredith, 1998); (iii) a capabilities approach which explains Indigenous

entrepreneurship as a form of Indigenous human development (Mika, 2017; Yap and Watene,

2019); (iv) identity economics which explains the relationship between economic and financial

attitudes among Indigenous people and their identity (Houkamau et al., 2019); (v) identity poli-

tics which explains the effect of perception and self-perception on Indigenous entrepreneurship

(Warren et al., 2018); and (vi) social capital and the propensity for Indigenous business network-

ing (Foley and O’Connor, 2013; Foley, 2010). The main message is that theory development in

Indigenous entrepreneurship is important, but it is at an early stage and tends to be based on

qualitative research and inductive reasoning. While the focus is on adapting non-Indigenous

concepts to Indigenous contexts, theory-building using Indigenous methodologies is emerging

(Henry and Foley, 2018; Spiller et al., 2019).

6 EntrEprEnEurship

defining entrepreneurshipAttempts to define entrepreneurship have been ongoing since Cantillon first mentioned the

entrepreneur in his 1755 essay (Brown and Thornton, 2013). For Cantillon, an entrepreneur was

someone specializing in risk taking (Knight, 1921). Over the next 250 years, entrepreneurship

has moved in and out of academic favour, sometimes seen as essential to economic develop-

ment and at other times quite indistinct from the role of capitalists (Rahim, 2009). A Western or

non-Indigenous view of entrepreneurship is worth teasing out as a basis upon which to explore

the variation in how Indigenous entrepreneurship is defined. As discussed in the main text in

Chapter 1, the three basic ways the ‘West’ sees entrepreneurs, all of which are associated with

market-based economies, are:

• First, as innovators engaged in a process of value creation from new products, processes, mar-kets and organizations—this is the German school of thought (Becker et al., 2011; Casson et al., 2006);

• Second, as a ‘middleman,’ being alert to opportunities to profit from price differences—this is one of the Austrian perspectives (Hayek, 1937; Kirzner, 1973; Wennekers and Thurik, 1999); and

• Third, as competitive individuals and firms who bear risk and uncertainty and lead markets to equilibrium—this is the neoclassical perspective (Wennekers and Thurik, 1999).

Essentially then, as defined in Chapter 1, entrepreneurship can be understood as a process of

identifying and acting on opportunities to create value (economic and noneconomic) by starting

and growing enterprises.

defining Indigenous entrepreneurshipOne of the main challenges of defining Indigenous entrepreneurship is doing so without

compartmentalizing it using a Western worldview, for example, reducing it to a focus on the

entrepreneur, economic opportunity and the profit-making firm without regard to Indigenous

culture, knowledge systems and contexts. Another challenge is identifying general principles of

Indigenous entrepreneurship that make sense for culturally diverse Indigenous peoples, which

many authors have attempted to do (Hindle and Moroz, 2009; Foley, 2007; Ingram, 1990; Dana

and Anderson, 2007; Gibson and Scrimgeour, 2004; Scrimgeour and Iremonger, 2004; Frederick

and Henry, 2004; Ruwhiu, 2009; Mataira, 2000; Spiller, 2010; Peredo et al., 2004). Notwithstand-

ing these challenges, several defintions of Indigenous entrepreneurship have emerged, some of

which are presented in Table 1.

The challenge in defining Indigenous entrepreneurship, Peredo et al. (2004) suggest, is how

do Indigenous peoples retain their culture and identity whilst participating in the modern

global economy? Conversely, Hindle and Lansdowne (2007) regard this protection-development

dichotomy as a fallacy. The real problem they suggest is how to recognize the potential within


Indigenous heritage to contribute to entrepreneurship (Hindle and Lansdowne, 2007). Foley

(2004) suggests that Indigenous entrepreneurs are, for example, able to hold to their Indigenous

identity and values, yet adapt Western values and practices for their cultural and economic sur-

vival. Table 1 indicates a diversity of perspectives on the rationale, goal, activity and outcome of

Indigenous entrepreneurship, ranging from a narrow focus on self-employment, as an alterna-

tive to employment, to a broader mission of venture creation for Indigenous social, economic

and political advantage, but with scope for non-Indigenous people to participate and benefit

from this activity. The commonality of the definitions is the association between entrepreneur-

ship and Indigeneity, with one influencing the other to alter the purpose, nature and extent of

entrepreneurial activity.

Table 1 Selected definitions of Indigenous entrepreneurship

Definition Author Conceptual elements

Indigenous entrepreneurship is the creation, management and development of new ventures by Indigenous people for the benefit of Indigenous people. The organizations thus created can pertain to either the private, public or non-profit sectors. The desired and achieved benefits of venturing can range from the narrow view of economic profit for a single individual to the broad view of multiple, social and economic advantages for entire communities. Outcomes and entitlements derived from Indigenous entrepreneurship may extend to enterprise partners and stakeholders who may be non-Indigenous.

Hindle and Lansdowne (2005: 9), cited in Hindle and Moroz (2010, p. 363)

A new venture orientationBy and for Indigenous peopleFor profit and not-for-profit venturesNon-Indigenous stakeholders as potential beneficiaries

Indigenous entrepreneurship is a process of extracting and contributing value that is anchored in a community’s particular socioeconomic conditions within which an entrepreneur/venture is embedded.

Colbourne (2018: 114) A process orientationValue generation and distributionCommunity embeddedness

The Indigenous Australian entrepreneur alters traditional patterns of behaviour, by utilizing their resources in the pursuit of self-determination and economic sustainability via their entry into self-employment, forcing social change in the pursuit of opportunity beyond the cultural norms of their initial economic resources.

Foley (2000: 25), cited in Hindle and Moroz (2010, p. 363)

A goal orientationSelf-determinationSustainabilityExpanding norms and resources

Indigenous entrepreneurship, as a research field, is the scholarly examination of new enterprise creation and the pursuit of opportunities to create future goods and services in furthering economic progress by redressing key issues of the disadvantage suffered by Indigenous people.

Hindle and Moroz (2010: 385)

New venture and poverty alleviation orientation

Self-employment based on Indigenous knowledge. Dana (2005: v) An alternative to employmentPrivileges Indigenous knowledge

Sources: As listed.

8 EntrEprEnEurship

characterizing Indigenous entrepreneurshipScholars tend to view entrepreneurship in relation to Indigenous peoples in three main ways.

First, entrepreneurship is advocated as a means of alleviating poverty among Indigenous peo-

ples, consistent with the United Nations’ Millennium Goals, which have since been replaced by

the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (Yap and Watene, 2019; United Nations,

2017b). This view emphasizes the economic advantages of entrepreneurial activity (Hindle and

Moroz, 2009), privileges Western notions of entrepreneurship (profit-maximizing, high growth

firms are the ideal) and Indigenous peoples’ acceptance of the global economy to participate

(Peredo, Anderson, Galbraith, Benson & L.-P. Dana, 2004). One of the problems with this view is

that the value of traditional knowledge and Indigenous resources is diminished (Bavikatte et al.,

2010; Iankova et al., 2016). As a counter-argument, Peredo et al. (2004) claim that assimiliation

of traditional cultures (an assumption of modernization theory) and exploitation of the least

developed nations and groups (a condition of dependency theory) is making way for Indigenous

peoples to interact with the global economy on more favourable terms (an indication of contin-

gency theory). Peredo et al. (2004) argue that the spread and usefulness of technology is making

it possible to establish efficient local microeconomies in previously deprived nations and unde-

veloped regions; whether that is desirable from an Indigenous perspective is a matter for each

community to determine.

Second, some scholars view entrepreneurship as an expression of Indigenous self-determination,

that is, as the intention and activity of engaging in entrepreneurship as independent, autono-

mous and self-governing peoples fulfiling their aspirations for economic independence and self-

sufficiency (Foley, 2004; Loomis et al., 1998; Campbell-Stokes, 1998; Jorgensen and Taylor, 2000;

Lewis, 2019). This view aligns with Sen’s (1999) capabilities approach, which is the idea that

people should have the capabilities they need to lead the kinds of lives they value and have rea-

son to value. In other words, Indigenous peoples pursue entrepreneurship because they detem-

ine it to be something worth pursuing (Sen, 1999; Alkire, 2005; Gries and Naude, 2011). In this

view, traditional knowledge, capabilities and resources are important determinants of Indigenous

entrepreneurship and Indigenous self-determination (Foley, 2007; Henry, 2007; Ingram, 1990;

Morrison, 2008; de Bruin and Mataira, 2003; L.-P. Dana & Anderson, 2007; Dodd, 2003; Cornell

and Kalt, 1998; Durie, 2002). Evidence suggests that Indigenous entrepreneurs are engaging in

entrepreneurship on the premise of both poverty alleviation and self-determination (Jorgensen

and Taylor, 2000; Christie and Chamard, 1997; Peredo et al., 2004).

Third, scholars sometimes view entrepreneurship as emancipation (freedom) from fourth-

world status (Rindova et al., 2009). Fourth-world status refers to situations where large sec-

tions of a country’s population, an Indigenous population for example, do not participate in

entrepreneurship because they are excluded from doing so by repressive policies, practices and

institutions of their governments, markets and industries (Manuel and Posluns, 1974: cited in

Seton, 1999). For entrepreneurship to become meaningful for Indigenous peoples, in such cir-

cumstances, requires a radical transformation of mainstream ideas and institutions in relation

to their Indigenous populations, in addition to a major capability building effort among Indige-

nous entrepreneurs (Havemann, 1999). New ideas such as inclusive growth, inclusive economies,


social entrepreneurship and social impact investing offer scope for dominant mainstream states

and industries to reconsider the way in which they provide opportunities for Indigenous entre-

preneurs to participate in economic development (Newth and Warner, 2019; Henry and Dana,

2018; Mika, 2019; Duthie et al., 2019).

Measuring Indigenous entrepreneurial activityA worldwide difficulty for policy makers, entrepreneurs, industry and communities is measuring

Indigenous entrepreneurial activity (Mika et al., 2019). Knowing how many Indigenous entre-

preneurs there are in a community, region, country, or the world is important because it provides

information for policy makers to assess the success of their policies and, more broadly, to deter-

mine the structure, dynamics and value of Indigenous economies. Such data also provides evi-

dence to support Indigenous peoples’ development policy and planning efforts and the design

of Indigenous enterprise assistance (addressed later in this chapter). Instead, data collection on

Indigenous entrepreneurial activity tends to be ad hoc, or captured where possible within main-

stream sources such as the census, tax and business records. In some instances, official meas-

ures of Indigenous entrepreneurial activity may be stifled by ongoing disagreements as to what

constitutes the definition of an Indigenous business for statistical or public policy purposes, or

because the answers may be politically embarrassing or in opposition to state policies in respect

of their Indigenous peoples. To illustrate the scale of the problem, take the relative frequency of

estimating the value of world economic activity, which was around $75 trillion in 2017 (Central

Intelligence Agency, 2017; World Bank, 2018; United Nations, 2017a); a similar value for the

global Indigenous economy is problematic because the data for this does not exist, but it should

(Mika et al., 2019).

In Aotearoa New Zealand, there has been ongoing discussion in public policy and statistics

agencies about the definition of Maori business, deemed crucial to resolving how best to collect

data on Indigenous firms in this country (Mika et al., 2016; Frederick and Chittock, 2006). In

reviewing past academic and administrative research, Mika et al. (2019) proposed a definition of

Maori business that satisfies four criteria: (1) self-identifies as a M aori business; (2) has 50 percent

or more Maori ownership; (3) applies Maori values implicitly or explicitly; and (4) contributes

to collective Maori wellbeing. While Maori business data is not presently collected using this

framework, there is potential for improved measurement of Maori business data that adheres to

such principles.

IndIgenous entrepreneurshIp practIceMa te marama ka matau—through light comes wisdom

Indigenous entrepreneurial knowing becomes evident in Indigenous entrepreneurial being and

doing. In other words, we have a chance of grasping what we know or think we know about

10 EntrEprEnEurship

Indigenous entrepreneurship by sensing it in the voices of Indigenous entrepreneurs. In this sec-

tion, we hear from five Indigenous entrepreneurs—three from Aotearoa New Zealand, and two

from the United States—who share their stories about knowing, being and doing Indigenous

entrepreneurship in diverse sectors, industries, and contexts.

Mavis Mullins MnZM: a rurally-based Maori entrepreneur

Mavis Mullins was born and raised in Kaitoki, a rural village of the town of Dannevirke in the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Mavis introduces herself by recalling her ancestral affiliations in the Maori language. Ko Rangitane me Ngati Ranginui te iwi ki te taha o toku papa a Punga Paewai—I am of the Rangitane and Ngati Ranginui tribe on my father’s side, whose name is Punga Paewai. Ko Atihaunui-a-Paparangi te iwi ki te taha o toku whaea a Josephine Whanarere—I am of the Atihaunui-a-Paparangi tribe on my mother’s side, whose name is Jose-phine Whanarere. Mavis attended secondary school at Church College in Hamilton in the late 1960s, some 420 kilometres away from her rural home. Mavis has a long history of involvement in the wool industry, including working as a woolhandler, shearing contractor, wool classer, instructor and competitive shearer. Mavis was the first female president of the Golden Shearers (Maori Television, 2020). A mother of four, and grandmother to 14, Mavis is a fifth-generation farmer who together with late husband Koro Mullins purchased the family shearing business—renaming it Paewai Mullins Shearing—that dated from the time of her grandfather, Lui Paewai, a 1920s All Black (Hawkes Bay Today, 2019). For over 30 years, Mavis and Koro developed Paewai Mullins Shearing into an industry-leading family enterprise renowned for its professionalism and innovation. Their daughter Aria Mullins purchased the business and now runs it (Massey University, 2017).

A wool classer by trade, Mullins’ company was the first in the world to achieve ISO 9002 accreditation in the shearing industry (Fuller, 2017). In the 1990s and 2000s, Mavis was drawn into a career in corporate governance, including directorships on Landcorp, district health


boards, Atihau Whanganui Incorporation, Poutama Trust, Te Huarahi Tika Trust and 2degrees (Massey University, 2017). Mavis’ entrepreneurial leadership is reflected in several awards: induction to the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2017 (Fuller, 2017); rural winner of the Westpac Woman of Influence award in 2016 (The Country, 2016) and the University of Auckland award for outstanding Maori business leader in 2017 (University of Auckland, 2017).

In her own words, Mavis reflects on what makes Maori entrepreneurship distinct and some of the challenges she encountered as a Maori entrepreneur. On the uniqueness of Maori entrepreneurship Mavis says:

Being Maori gives a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose. It brings a deep sense of knowing who you are. It also brings responsibility to build the mana [prestige, standing] and wellbeing of whanau [family] or those close to you. Being entrepreneurial didn’t actu-ally have a “colour” that I was aware of in the first instance. Starting and growing our own business was exciting, we were quite young and with that a “no real understanding of risk” mindset, it was just full steam ahead. We worked long hours 24/7 for at least a decade. It never felt like work. The uniqueness of Maori business is that it is values based, with a special emphasis on the greater good; intergenerational horizons leading to what I often term making mokopuna [grandchildren] decisions, a deeper understanding of our con-nection to the mauri [spiritual energy] of our lands, waters, flora and fauna. Our desire to provide manaakitanga [reciprocal care].

On encountering and responding to challenges of access to finance:

This was resolved to some extent by our parents, then it was improvise and growth through cash flow, everything got invested back into the business. Our living costs were humble even with four kids. We just made do, had our own vegie garden, shore sheep in exchange for mutton, teamed with other wh anau [families] to buy beef split-ting the cost and the spoils, hunting, kai moana [seafood], opp[ortunity] shops. It was a burden but when you love what you do with a goal to be profitable and sustainable it was just what you did. Perhaps we also had limited choices at that point too, so we had to keep going.

… on racism

This came as a shock coming from a close supportive community and same with school-ing. Particularly in the early days, although our clients were amicable and some relation-ships have developed into life-long friendships, it became evident that there were also differences. The presentation of unkempt conditions for work and accommodation, toi-lets and drinking water or lack of, the supply of meat for the shearing teams sometimes of questionable quality. This was when 90% of the team were Maori. Being given the impression you were earning too much, the expectation that a guitar and a crate [of beer] should be enough [in the way of payment]. Sarcasm if a new vehicle was brought for the business, “you must be charging too much.” Our response was to demonstrate, through our business, the highest levels of professionalism, workmanship and integrity. We went

12 EntrEprEnEurship

the extra mile, we took an active interest in the whole supply chain to find efficiencies and opportunities for them, and ultimately us. It took most of a generation, maybe two, to see the deserved level of respect shift.

… and on gender bias…

This was humorous to me. The client base always wanted to speak only with Koro [Mavis’s husband], even for the most menial message. It frustrated Koro more than me; it doubled his workload. It was evident in the actual shearing team as well, the ladies were often fair game. I guess I had had the privilege of education and other experiences. I also had the advantage of being the bosses daughter, so as I actively and maybe sometimes aggressively challenged bad behaviour and defended those who wanted it; attitudes changed. Those who didn’t like the shift in “power” moved on and this in turn attracted those who appreciated and thrived in places of mutual respect. I often find myself as the only women in [various] forums. I am humbled and aware of what that says about wom-en’s engagement and my responsibility. I know the value of diverse experiences and lenses at a decision making table, and have been active in advocating for diversity, whether it be ethnicity or gender or demographic spread.

discussion questions 1. What specific challenges did Mavis face as a Maori entrepreneur?2. How might these challenges be similar or different for female entrepreneurs from ‘West-

ern’ cultures?

Jason paki witehira: a food-based Maori entrepreneur


Born and raised in Rotorua, but with northern ancestral ties to Ngapuhi, Jason Witehira’s 30-year career as a supermarket owner-operator and award-winning Maori business leader started as a grocery store shelf-stacker in 1984 (Stock, 2016). Today, Jason is owner-operator of New World Victoria Park in Auckland; he is also a director of Foodstuffs North Island, Chair of Ngapuhi Asset Holdings; and is a director of Moana New Zealand, the country’s largest fishing business, which is 100% Maori owned (Te Ohu Kaimoana, 2019).

Jason reflects on how he got into the grocery business:

How I got into the business was a pure fluke to be honest. Did School Certificate in 1984. My last exam was Maori. Walking home from that exam, there was a job application in the window of Edmund Road New World in Rotorua looking for a worker in the produce; I was with one of my mates, and we both applied. I got the job and worked there over the school holidays. Once I got to the end of that I actually really liked it. I probably fell into the supermarket industry as opposed to focused on it. What made me focus on it more were two things. First, as a young Maori with a partner, at 18 we conceived a son and I didn’t want to lose them, so I started taking work more seriously. And the other reason, I started to realise I was actually quite good at it. Good in the sense that I got on with people, I had a good work ethic from my mum and dad and I wasn’t shy to speak up.

On becoming a supermarket store owner-operator:

I didn’t like the academic part of school; I was always a practical learner. And one of the funniest things was that I got 34 or 36 percent in School C maths, because what I do now is a multimillion dollar business, and it’s to do with dollars, but that maths I learned at 36 percent is actually the maths you need to run a business.

In my early days, there was a gentlemen by the name of William Much and he was our tutor for Foodstuffs. Bill was patient and could take a lot of attitude and turn it into a posi-tive. So Bill had a huge influence on where I am today. You’ll always have your knocker’s [doubters] aye. I had more knockers in my mid-twenties, telling you you’re all kaka [faecal matter] and you’re not gonna do this and you’re not gonna do that. That small minded kiwi; that knocker attitude. So I went through that. In the business you have responsibility for a lot of people. You know I’ve got people where the whole family work here; I make the wrong decision and the whole family’s hurt. It’s something you’ve got to be humble about.

On being Maori:

I was born Maori; well I was born a kiwi [New Zealander]. My father happened to be Maori and my mother happened to be Pakeha [New Zealander of European descent], so I’m a kiwi. I naturally lean towards Maoridom probably more so than anything because my mother supported it and we always used to go home back to where my father was from, which is in the Hokianga in the Far North. So growing up as a young fulla, it was my gen-eration that missed out on speaking te reo [the Maori language]. So that’s when I went away and learnt about what being Maori is. And it’s a beautiful culture, it’s an honest culture, it’s a very simple culture about the land. Whereas in a European world, it’s all about the asset and the monetary valuation. So it sounds ironic that a businessman is

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robett hollis: a multi-exit Maori entrepreneurA descendant of the Ngati Porou tribe on the east coast of Aotearoa New Zealand, Robett was born further north, at Arapohue, just outside Dargaville; and between the ages of four and eight was raised in Fiji, and from there to the Christchurch suburb of Aranui (Hollis and Brown, 2018). Robett’s youthful ambition was to find a way out of the somewhat rambunctious end of town he had grown up in. Around age seventeen, Robett had some tough choices to make; stay at home and help look after the family; follow the high school careers advice from a CD-ROM that said he was a perfect fit to fill boxes at a warehouse; or follow his passion for sport—sport won out.

saying it’s not about the money. I respect where I’m from, hold on to this for my future generations and understand where you have to compete in today’s world. So a bit of a blend of the both [Pakeha and Maori cultures].

On being a Maori entrepreneur:

First and foremost I’m Maori. I’m proud to be Maori and that will never ever change. You’ve got the tikanga [culture] or the kawa [protocols], and you’ve got this business world. And one thing my uncle said to me is you can’t have the mana [prestige, power and authority] and the moni [money]. Do you want the mana or the money?

I was a store manager at a shop back in the 1990s and I was really stressed about the locals because they were all high profile, wealthy people, and I was going, right, they’re not going to listen to this Maori. You know what? They couldn’t give a [dam] what colour I was. The true professional businesspeople are businesspeople. You give them the answer they want, or you do what you say you’re going to do and they will support you all the way.

Jason is excited by the potential for Maori enterprise to compete globally (Stock, 2016). One such venture is Nuku ki te Puku a Maori food and beverage enterprise cluster Callaghan Innovation (2018) started to support Maori entrepreneurs to innovate through Western science and Indigenous knowledge. As one of 14 Maori enterprises that belong to Nuku ki te Puku, Jason is collaborating with scientists, marketers, investors, and horticulturalists to produce high value nutrition-based products for the Asian markets (Te Ao Maori News, 2018).

discussion question 1. How are Jason’s values as an Indigenous Maori entrepreneur different or similar to that

of an entrepreneur from a Western culture?2. How has Jason’s sense of identity and culture influenced his approach to entrepreneur-

ship and doing business?


Robett excelled at several, but a 10-year career as a professional snowboarder set the scene for his entrepreneurial ambitions, which had global inclinations, having already seen much of the world through a sporting lens. Named after his grandparents Ron and Betty, Robett, at age 20, embarked upon his first entrepreneurial venture—producing high quality images and video content of action sports for online sport, media and advertising firms, which eventually became Frontside Media, New Zealand’s largest action sports network. With the Frontside Media team on one-side of the Auckland high-rise office, creating space for other tech start-ups and freelancers to share in the entrepreneurial energy of the downtown location seemed like a logical move. So Robett founded ColabNZ, which became New Zealand’s largest net-work of shared workspace. In 2018, Robett sold both enterprises, which has enabled him to more fully exercise his ambition to be a full time ‘lifestyle entrepreneur,’ someone who has the freedom and resources to encourage, support and invest in other entrepreneurs, innova-tors, and tech-savvy future makers, Maori and non-Maori alike. One such initiative is Robett’s (‘#YesToSuccess’) mission to destroy New Zealand’s tall poppy syndrome—a peculiar national cultural habit of attacking people who aspire to be successful with negativity (Warren et al., 2018). In 2019, Robett toured the country talking to schools and community groups about the tall poppy syndrome and how to replace it with a focus on success, a message reflected in his autobiography ‘Power moves’ (Hollis and Brown, 2018). The second initiative, among many, is Robett’s support for Kokiri, a Maori business acceleration programme, based on Maori values designed to speed up the development of early-stage Maori enterprises (Te Wananga o Aotearoa, 2020).

Here’s what Robett has to say on his growing into Maori entrepreneurship:

When I started my first business in 2005-06, I didn’t know anything, I didn’t know what an invoice was, I didn’t know whatever. So I reached out and I got linked up through Te Puni Kokiri [Ministry of Maori Development]. If you don’t actually know the commercial element of this, it kind of puts you at a severe disadvantage off the bat. I was never book smart, it wasn’t that I didn’t try, dude, I just knew what I was good at and what I wasn’t good at. After I moved to Auckland, I reached back out and I said, hey look, my business is going great, but I need more help; like, I don’t even have a lawyer; I don’t even have a proper accountant. So the Te Puni Kokiri business advisor Rosalie, she introduced me to a guy

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called Heta Hudson; he’s like: The Man! I got a business mentor. When an individual that you meet is so detached from your reality, but has a genuine care, it actually really makes a difference. I’m a thinker, I’m an ideas guy, but I am not a book smart fundamentals x, y, z money man. It’s not me. What it taught me is that I need to delegate, automate and bring in crew that I trust that are better than me at those things. I’m 28 [at the time], my general manager’s 38. He kind of runs the show.

On being Maori and the role of Maori culture in business:

I’m so aware of the general perception of Maori within business that I make it very clear about who I am and what I stand for and what I represent. I meet a lot of people now and a lot of times before I meet them, they haven’t seen what I look like, they don’t know what I sound like, they’ll read my emails, they’ll see my signature, but they’ll walk through the door, that’s what happens, they’ll walk in and they’ll go into that room [the general man-ager’s office]. They’ll see me, they’ll see him [the general manager] and they go in there. And they’re like, “hey Robett?” And he’s like, “oh he’s actually next door.” It’s because they think Robett Hollis is a 38-year-old white dude in a suit in the corner. Not the 28-year-old young Maori fulla that’s actually got the big office on the top floor. It’s a look that says, “how are you here?”

On what makes a difference in entrepreneurship (Mika, 2016):

I’ve gone from a ‘prove myself to other’s mentality’ to providing value for the platform that I’ve now built. Ideas are [faecel matter], execution is everything. Everyone that I talk to, they’re like, “I’ve got this sick idea for this app.” I’m like, dude, I don’t give a [more faecel matter], right, show me! Execution is everything. Do it, which gives you leverage, it gets you in the door to show the other side that you’re not full of [faecal matter]… if you don’t do it, then all you are is, what, [faecal matter], that’s your entire reputation, that’s your brand. Legacy is greater than currency. Dollars is ‘blah’; creating value is rad.

Today, Robett Hollis is a global keynote speaker, author, Fortune 100 content consultant and one of LinkedIn’s top three most influential New Zealanders who is on a mission to inspire success, destroy stifling negative attitudes and help grow New Zealand entrepreneurs.

discussion questions 1. Compare and contrast the experiences of all three of these Indigenous Maori entrepre-

neurs.2. How do the advantages of urban-based Maori entrepreneurs compare to those of more

rurally-based Maori entrepreneurs?


candace hamana: a public relations native american entrepreneur

In September 2018, Candace Hamana, a Native American entrepreneur of the Navajo and Hopi tribes, from Pheonix Arizona, formed Badger PR, a public relations firm with a staunch resolve to “be a champion and voice for hyper-local, brave and diverse communities” (Hamana, 2018). With a decade of experience in business, media, tribal relations and political affairs, it was with this same “spirit of grit, fearlessness and desire to help others that Badger PR was born” (Hamana, 2018). Candace talks about her coming to be:

I was born in Tuba City, up in northern Arizona. It’s on the Navajo reservation, and it bor-ders the Hopi reservation. My dad is Navajo, Scottish and Dutch; my mother is full Hopi. The two tribal nations are basically separated by a stop sign at a road. We moved out of Tuba City and off the reservation around first grade, initially to Flagstaff, then to Phoenix where most of my family has been for at least 30 years. I decided to go back to Tuba City for high school, graduated, and then became a young mother, after which we lived in Phoenix until 2006. At that point, I met someone who would be my future ex-husband. We moved to South Carolina, for six years, returning to Arizona in 2012. I started working for the Salt River Indian tribal government as their media relations specialist for three years, then for the Central Arizona project in stakeholder relations.

On the experiences that would become the basis of Badger PR:

With the Salt River Indian community, I really learned how to establish relationships with the media and all the tribes in Arizona; knowing who the tribal leaders are; understanding the different structures of each tribal community. Then the work with the Central Arizona project intrigued me, because I wanted something a little bit more meaty. But be careful what you ask for, right, because the Central Arizona project delivers water from the Colorado river to central Arizona all the way down into Tucson. Water is very political

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here in the desert. When you go through 17 years of consecutive droughts, the water levels are going down but the growth is exploding. There’s just a lot of fights internally and with external partners. We share those water rights with seven basin states, and because of the history of how they decided who was going to get the water, it obviously did not work in favour of the tribes. I saw the injustice of how tribes were brought into consultation; pitting one tribe against another. There are definitely winners and losers when it comes to water and water rights here in Arizona. I really became educated about the issues, about the imbalance, and how not to do tribal stakeholder relations. I had a front row seat to those lessons daily. Everything was business as usual, but one day it just… changed.

On the formation of Badger PR:

I wanted to do something that was going to make a positive impact for my communities, whether it was here in Phoenix, or back home on Hopi or on Navajo. I just took a leap of faith. I was scared out of my mind, but I knew that I had reinforcements. I had some really good mentors in the community, and Native American mentors. They said, “You know what Candace; you’re going to be just fine; the community will rally around you. I gave notice and I started my own business. I already had the name of the business. Just making this leap of faith, that’s how I started Badger PR.

On some the challenges of starting a new business in Arizona:

I did a lot of Google searching about how to start a business in Arizona. The Corporation Commission does a pretty good job about walking you through that; choosing your busi-ness name, if it’s available; deciding on the structure. When you’re starting to solicit cli-ents, you have to build all of your templates of service, you have to decide who to target, what your services are, because PR can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. You’re going to focus on the things that you love to do, and that you are good at. You’re not going to try to be everything to everyone, even though that’s tempting, because you still have bills to pay. A funny thing was when I went to register the domain name for Badger PR. They’re like, “Hey, guess what? Somebody is sitting on it; you have to buy it. That’s why I went with Hello Badger PR.

On being a Native American entrepreneur:

Tapping into the Arizona Indian Chamber of Commerce, and getting registered as a member helped the reintroduction into the Native business community. Attending events that were specific to my craft, and my expertise, and being a member of the Public Rela-tions Society of America was also important. As a new business owner, you want to have that credibility. I was introduced to the Native Women Entrepreneurs of Arizona that has brought together many Native women owners here in Arizona. In terms of success, in a way we’re conditioned to feel like it’s a bad thing to want to be rich, but it’s what you do with that wealth that really determines whether or not you’re successful. For me success


len necefer: an outdoor industry-based native american entrepreneur

Dr Len Necefer is Navajo. Len works as an assistant professor in American Indian Studies and in the Udall Center for Public Policy at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. In addition, Len is also an Indigenous entrepreneur, establishing NativesOutdoors in 2017, which is a Colorado-based outdoor apparel company. Len started NativesOutdoors as a social media project to highlight the stories and images of Native people in outdoor recreation as way of addressing the underrepresentation of Indigenous people in the industry (NativeOutdoors, 2020). The com-pany’s mission is “to empower indigenous communities through our products and storytelling for

is having a book and something that will generate revenue and provide for me and for my family; also helping Native students find their voice; be a voice for their community, kind of install confidence and writing and speaking up.

discussion questions 1. What specific challenges did Candace face as an Indigenous Native American female

entrepreneur?2. Compare the experiences and challenges of Candace, from this case and Mavis, from the

first case. What are the similarities?

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a sustainable world” (NativeOutdoors, 2020: 1). While the company’s core business is outdoor products that serve to support Indigenous people, it has expanded its services to encompass advisory and consulting services on the relationship between tribes, public lands and outdoor recreation (NativeOutdoors, 2020; Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade, 2020). For instance, Len has shared his views on the history of Native American runners as carriers of “time-sensitive messages between tribes” (Gall and Cochrane, 2020), on reviving Indigenous names for mountains using Indigenous geotags (Fenton, 2018; Necefer, 2018) and on tribal opposition to presidential action to reduce the size of Bears Ears National Monument (Franz, 2017).

As a scholar, Len’s research focuses on the relationship between Indigenous people and natural resource management policy (Necefer et al., 2015). Len recently co-directed the film “Welcome to Gwichyaa Zhee” about the Gwich’in, an Alaska Native and Canadian First Nations people, and their fight to protect the Arctic Refuge (Balkin and Necefer, 2019). Len is an avid outdoor adventurer engaging in rock and ice climbing, high altitude and ski mountaineering and Type 2 fun (“miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect”) (Cordes, 2020: 1) to convey stories focused on environmental activism and Indigenous history (Necefer, 2018; Sanford and Necefer, 2018; Fenton, 2018).

Len introduces himself:

I am Navajo from north eastern Arizona. My grandfather was a traditional healer, a medi-cine man, and I spent a lot of time with him outdoors. My dad’s Romanian Scottish first generation from Detroit, so he comes from an auto family on that side. But my dad worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs for many years and met my mom and that’s how I came to be. The formative years of my life were in New Mexico and Arizona on the Navajo nation.

On becoming an engineer, assistant professor and outdoor industry leader:

I grew up around a lot of energy resource development and seeing the impacts of energy development on my home community. As a young man I was pretty angry about these things that were happening to our land and our people. My grandfather before becoming a medicine man was a uranium miner and he got very sick from that. I wanted to do some-thing about it so I decided to go into mechanical engineering because I wanted to under-stand how energy policy worked; how environmental policy worked and how to basically ensure that there are ways to prevent this happening to other communities. My disserta-tion looked at how cultural values can inform energy policy in the Navajo nation.

On the precursors to forming NativesOutdoors:

In Colorado, the Rocky Mountains are there. I started spending a lot of time in the moun-tains. It’s kind of the epi-centre of the outdoor industry in the United States, but one of the things that I saw really missing was Native people in media and storytelling and the products that were being sold. There was a lot of cultural appropriation in the designs. Then the other thing was the Bears Ears National Monument fight. National monuments


are a form of federal land protection that can be applied to a landscape to protect its archaeological or cultural resources. The Bears Ears National Monument was very unique because five tribes came together, including mine the Navajo, to protect an area of about 1.35 million acres in south east Utah. President Obama set that into law and that was one of the first things that President Trump then undid. Basically the outdoor industry became very political. In the outdoor industry there was a lot of interest about indigenous world-views but there was really no way to engage with it. I started NativesOutdoors to create that platform of storytelling.

On NativesOutdoors:

We started on Instagram and doing media and stories. In the outdoor industry there is a lot of use of Indigenous designs and no credit given. I’ve written up ads about it but there’s only so far that I can get. One of the things that we saw as really important is creating the competition that then forces people to change. I connected with a Native designer; a Navaho designer that does most of our work now. We’re a Native company creating prod-ucts and designs that are appealing to a broader audience. We’ve made a couple of films; just kind of ensuring that Indigenous people are at the forefront of these discussions about landscapes.

On entrepreneurial success:

Success to me is when we see Native people in every part of the outdoor industry and it’s not even a question. We want to instil values of reciprocity and giving back and treat-ing landscapes as our relatives across the outdoor industry more broadly.

discussion questions 1. In what ways do early life experiences influence Indigenous entrepreneurs like Len?2. What are the some of the ways Len is using entrepreneurship to change mainstream

(non-Indigenous) views and practices toward Indigenous people in the outdoor industry?3. How difficult or easy might you find it to adopt a way of seeing landscapes as relatives?

How might your attitude and behaviour change toward the environment as a result?

IndIgenous entrepreneurshIp and enterprIse assIstance

Ma te matau, ka ora—through wisdom comes wellbeing

Enterprise assistance may be defined as the array of formalised business support, both finan-

cial (e.g., grants, debt, equity) and nonfinancial (e.g., information, advice, mentoring, training),

available over the lifetime of an enterprise, intended to promote the success of entrepreneurs,

their firms and their contributions to the communities, regions and countries in which they

22 EntrEprEnEurship

operate (Storey, 1994; Jurado and Massey, 2011; Warren et al., 2018). Enterprise assistance for

entrepreneurs is available in most countries with public and private organisations involved in its

design and delivery (Greene and Storey, 2010; Storey and Greene, 2010). Thus, enterprise assis-

tance can be characterized as either public (funded by taxpayers because of its public good ele-

ment) or private (funded by consumers because of its private good element) or both. Enterprise

assistance can also encompass micro (firm-level) and macro (nation-level), direct (financial) and

indirect (nonfinancial) forms of support (Mika, 2018a). The United States Small Business Admin-

istration is an example of a publicly funded provider of financial and nonfinancial assistance for

entrepreneurs (Greene and Storey, 2010).

Most publicly funded enterprise assistance may be characterized as having a generic focus on

all eligible entrepreneurs, including Indigenous entrepreneurs (Storey and Greene, 2010). Yet,

evidence indicates attempts have been made to increase the uptake and effect of publicly funded

enterprise assistance among Indigenous entrepreneurs through public institutions dedicated to

this purpose (e.g., Aboriginal Business Canada, Indigenous Business Australia), or units within

public institutions (e.g., the Office of Native American Affairs in the US Small Business Admin-

istration, Te Kupenga in New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment), or

through Indigenous-centred institutions (e.g., National Center for American Indian Enterprise

Development in the United States, and Maori Women’s Development Incorporated and Poutama

Trust in New Zealand) (Mika, 2018a).

Mika (2015) adds to the few studies on this subject (Lewis, 2018; Zapalska and Brozik, 2017;

Fleming, 2015; Miller et al., 2019) by arguing that a principal role of enterprise assistance is to

build Indigenous entrepreneurial capabilities by integrating indigeneity into their social capital,

human capital, cultural capital, financial capital, spiritual capital and natural capital to achieve

Indigenous means and ends. While centred on Maori entrepreneurship in Aotearoa New Zea-

land, four main findings are relevant to Indigenous entrepreneurship generally:

First, the rationale for public funding should consider the extent to which enterprise assistance supports Indigenous aspirations for self-determination, human potential and wellbeing and recognises and protects Indigenous rights, interests and knowledge (Mika, 2018a);

Second, the model of enterprise assistance provides for Indigenous ownership, control and leadership, and offering multiple forms of assistance—financial and nonfinancial—appropriate to the needs of Indigenous firms over their lifetimes (Warren et al., 2018);

Third, measures of the efficacy (effectiveness and efficiency) of enterprise assistance incor-porate Indigenous methodologies (see earlier section in this chapter) and multiple dimensions of wellbeing—social, cultural, economic, environmental and spiritual (H enare, 2011);

Fourth, non-Indigenous and Indigenous providers of assistance services are responsive to Indigenous entrepreneurs by ensuring they demonstrate cultural competency (an ability for culturally safe practice), relational competency (an ability to form positive relationships), and technical competency (an ability to deliver needed assistance) (Mika, 2018b).

These findings represent a framework by which providers—Indigenous and non-Indigenous—

can design, deliver and evaluate enterprise assistance to more closely accord with Indigenous

worldviews about the role of entrepreneurship and enterprise in Indigenous development.


revIew and conclusIonThis chapter set out to articulate an alternative view of entrepreneurship, one framed upon

Indigenous worldviews, knowledge, experiences and approaches to knowing, being and doing

business. The chapter represents an overview of Indigenous entrepreneurship theory and prac-

tice, intended to encourage students, scholars and practitioners to be open to considering other

ways of seeing, doing and supporting entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurship from an Indig-

enous perspective is often viewed as a way of realising Indigenous aspirations for self-deter-

mination and sustainable development (Mika et al., 2018). For Indigenous entrepreneurs, this

means incorporating Indigenous values, culture, language and institutions—forms of cultural

and spiritual capital—into the identity and nature of their firms, their products and services and

contributions to Indigenous communities. The five case studies illustrate how Indigenous entre-

preneurs are actively engaging in sectors such as agribusiness, food and beverage, media, public

relations and technology using Indigenous and non-Indigenous principles of entrepreneurship

to forge beneficial change. Enterprise assistance has an important role in fostering Indigenous

entrepreneurship and providers must consider how they can provide for Indigenous worldviews

in the design, delivery and evaluation of their services.

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Entrepreneurship. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

Foley, D. (2003) “An examination of indigenous Australian entrepreneurs”, Journal of

Developmental Entrepreneurship, 8, 133–153.

Mika, J.P., Fahey, N. and Bensemann, J. (2019) “What counts as an Indigenous enterprise?

Evidence from Aotearoa New Zealand”, Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places

in the Global Economy, 13, 372–390.

suggested group assIgnMent 1. Identify (an) Indigenous entrepreneur(s) in your country or from overseas.2. What issues and challenges have they faced?3. Discuss and present your results using Powerpoint and recommend how enterprise support

policies could help such Indigenous entrepreneurs

24 EntrEprEnEurship

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